Tobacco pouch package



Nov. 11,1941. G. c. KIRGAN 2,262,551

- TOBACCO POUCH PACKAGE Filed Jan. 29, 1940 I Zhwentor (Ittorneg Patented Nov. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOBACCO POUGH PACKAGE Grover Cleveland Kirgan, Hamilton, Ohio Application January 29. 1940, SerialNo. 316,193

3 Claims.

This invention relates to pouches or containers for tobacco.

One object of the invention is the provision of a tobacco pouch that can be made very cheaply and serve as a container in which pipe tobacco and the like is merchandised and also serve as .a pouch during a comparatively short period of usefulness for the time the tobacco is being consumed.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an article of merchandise including a pouch having form defining but non-rigid walls, containing a mass of tobacco enclosed therein in an inner protecting wrapper.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a tobacco pouch having wall portions of paperboard, with side paper portions that permit the pouch to be opened wide enough to receive a normal size pipe bowl without flexing the front and back portions of the pocket forming portions of the' pouch.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a tobacco pouch which when closed is of substantially wedge shape and of greater thickness at the bottom of the tobacco receiving pocket, and which, when opened, is of greater thickness at the top of the pocket.

,Another object of the invention is the provision of a tobacco pouch which when closed is of substantially wedge shape and having spring means for opening the pouch when a closure flap is opened.-

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description,

the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated,

line 4-4 Referring more particularly to the drawing, r

in which the same reference numerals are used to designate like parts in the different views, l0 generally designates a tobacco container adapted to hold pipe tobacco and the like and to serve as a tobacco pouch during a comparatively short period of usefulness for the time a pouchful of tobacco is being consumed, the container being of very cheap material and adapted to be made at a very low cost so that it may also serve as a container in which the pipe tobacco is sold to the consumer. Preferably the tobacco is sold or merchandised as a mass enclosed in-a flexible protecting wrapper ll shaped tofit withinthe pouch ID, the wrapper ll preferably being made of paper or Cellophane or the like having a sealing strip l2 along its upper edge which, when pulled off by the customer, opensthe top of the wrapper to make the tobacco accessible. j

The tobacco, enclosed in the inner protecting wrapper H, is sold within thepouch l0, and the purchaser can use the pouch as a container during the time the tobacco is being'consumed, and can then discard the pouch, which is constructed so that its wearing qualities and strength permit it to be used for a short time in which it will maintain its shape even though it may be subjected to considerable pressures and hard usage normally encountered when carried in the pocket of the user. i

The pouch l0 comprises a front l4, back l5, and bottom IS, the bottom 16 being'generally flat although it is preferably somewhat curved in the end portions where it merges into the front and back, the front, back and bottom being preferably made from a single sheet of paperboard l 6 having sufficient flexibility so that it may be intentionally readily bent by the fingers although having .sufiicient rigidity so that it maintains the shape of the package during the normal .period of usefulness as a pouch. Ex-

tending from thetop of the back l5, and preferably formed integrally therewith, is a paperboard flap 11 adapted to fold over the front [0, the flap I! having a fold line [8 where it joins the back l5 so that when the package is closed, it is of substantially wedge shape with the thin end of the wedge at the top of the container as shown in Fig. 2. The front, back and bottom are connected at their sides to paper side walls l9, which are adapted to act as bellows, the upper portion of these side walls being substantially wider than the bottom portions so that when the pouch is open, there will be a considerable space between the top of the front and the, back, as shown in Fig. 3, suflicient to permit the entrance of a pipe bowl of normal size into the pocket without requiring any substantial flexing of the front and back walls. This open distance at the top of the pocket may be of the order of from an inch and a quarter to two inches, for example, while the distance across the sides, adjacent the bottom of the pouch, is considerably less. When the extension or cover flap 'II is folded down over the front M, the upper portions of the bellows side parts are folded inwardly into collapsed form and the pouch, if full of tobacco, assumes the form of the tobacco and forms a convenient size package that may be carried in the pocket of the user.

The sides l9 are preferably attached by suitable adhesive, where the sides extend vover the walls to whichithey are connected, and the :front, back and extension or cover flap may be covered by a thin paper decorative sheet 2|, pasted or 23 on the front wall M to hold the package with, the flexible paper side portions each having a maximum breadth at its upper portion and being of upwardly diverging form with a fold line at its upper portion forming an in-turned central bellows fold, and an extension on the back portion foldable over the front to close the pocket and form it into a substantially wedge-shape with the bottom of the container forming the larger end of the wedge.

2. A tobacco container adapted to serve as a :pouch during a comparatively 'shortsperiod of usefulness and then discarded comprising a sheet of paperboard bent to form the front, back and bottom of the pouch, the paperboard having sufficient flexibility that it may be intentionally readily bent by the fingers but with sufficient in closed position. Within the package, and adspring the pocket open and hold the upper parts of the-front and back separated widely, when the cover orextension flap 1 '1 is opened. These springs :24 are preferably in the form of 'U-shaped wirem-embers fitting against the corners of the packagewhere the end 'walls are connected to the front and "back.

As will now be understood, the pouch is of very cheapflconstruction, its cost comparing to the cost of the tin that is ordinarily used as a pipe container in the merchandising of pipe tobacco, but "it is adapted to serve over -a substantial period of time as a tobacco pouch and is very 'convenientinuse', since it may be readily opened to permit a pipebowl to be inserted and filled.

. When carried in the pocket of the user it does not ofier "that unyielding rigidity that is present where the customary pipe tobacco tin is carried. While the form ofapparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus,

and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

- mat'xis claimed is:

" 1; A container for tobacco adapted to serve as "a tobacco pouch comprising paperboard form 'jacent the ends l9 are springs 24 which serve to:

rigidity so that it will retain the shape of the container during its normal period of usefulness,

an extension connected to the back along a fold line and adapted to fold over the front as a closure to make the top of the container of substantially smaller thickness at the top than at the bottom, flexible bellows side portions converging in breadth from the top of the container and connected along their converging edges and along the bottom portions thereof to the front, back and bottom, said flexible bellows side portions' each having a central fold line providing an in-turned fold from the two lines of connection to the front an'd'b'ack of the package and adapted to be opened out flat and provide the maximum container thickness when the container is open, at the top of the container.

3. A tobacco container adapted to serve as a pouch during a comparatively short period of usefulness and then discarded comprising a sheet of paperboard bent to form the front, back and bottom of the pouch, an extension connected to the back along a fold line and adapted to fold over th front as a closure to make the top of the container of substantially smaller thickness at 1 the 'top than at the bottom, flexible bellows side portions connected to the front, back and bottom and having a greater length at the top of the container than at the midportion thereof so that when the container is open it is of substantially greater thickness at the top than at the bottom, and a spring within the container at each end thereof, each spring having a pair of yieldingly connected legs extending along the lines of attachment of the side portions with the front and back of the pouch for springing the top of the pocket open when the closure extension is opened.

GROVER CLEVELAND KIRGAN. 

